The Late Great Len Deighton

Len Deighton, the author of such well-known spy novels as The IPCRESS File and Funeral in Berlin, died on March 15, 2026, at the age of 97. 

Len Deighton was born on February 18, 1929, in Marylebone, London. Len Deighton was eleven years-old when he witnessed the arrest of Anna Wolkoff, who was a British subject and for whom Len Deighton's mother cooked. Anna Wolkoff was eventually convicted of  "attempting to assist the enemy (in this case, the Nazis)." According to Len Deighton a 1992 article in The Sunday Telegraph Anna Wolkoff's arrest was '...a major factor in my decision to write a spy story at my first attempt at fiction."

He attended t St Marylebone Grammar School, and then worked as a railway clerk. He was 17 when he was drafted for his national service, and he served in the Royal Air Force for two and a half years. He attended Saint Martin's School of Art and then received a scholarship to the Royal College of Art, from which he graduated.

It was in 1962 that Len Deighton's first book The IPCRESS File, was published. He had written the novel while on vacation in France. The protagonist of The IPCRESS File was a anonymous working class agent who was far removed from James Bond. The novel proved to be a bestseller and would be adapted as the 1965 movie The Ipcress File starring Michael Caine. For the movies, Len Deighton's anonymous agent was named "Harry Palmer." The anonymous protagonist of The IPCRESS File appeared in several more novels, including Funeral in Berlin, Billion Dollar Brain, An Expensive Place to Die, Spy Story, Yesterday's Spy, and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Spy. 

It was in 1983 that Len Deighton's novel Berlin Game was published, the first of his novels to centre on Bernard Samson, a somewhat jaded, middle aged agent for MI-6. He appeared in seven more novels. Beyond the "Harry Palmer" and Bernard Samson novels, Len Deighton also wrote novels that were not part of a series, including Goodbye, Mickey Mouse, about the 220th Fighter Group of the US Eighth Air Force d up to the Allied invasion of Europe; Winter, about a German family from 1899 to 1945; and MAMista, set in a fictional South American country.

Len Deighton also wrote several cook books, the first of which was  Len Deighton's Action Cook Book in 1965. and several non-fiction books on subjects ranging from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy to the Battle of Britain to the Blitzkrieg. 

As a writer of spy fiction, Len Deighton was in many ways revolutionary. His early books, in particular, occupied a place in between the fantasies of Ian Fleming and the more realistic novels of J John le Carré. The "Harry Palmer" novels were certainly gritty and Len Deighton's anonymous protagonist was a far cry from James Bond. He was a working class man who lived in a cheap flat and sometimes even seedier hotels. He shopped in supermarkets and often wanted a raise in his pay. He even wore glasses and had to endless paperwork he had to fill out serving the British government bureaucracy. Ar the same time, however, the plots of Len Deighton's novels sometimes featured elements as fantastic as that of any Ian Fleming novel.  The plot of The IPCRESS File involved mind control. Billion-Dollar Brain centred on a supercomputer and a weapons grade supervirus. His spy novels would have a lasting impact on future spy novels, and he would influence writers such as Charles Cumming, Mike Herron,  and Philip Kerr, Both Jeremy Duns and Derek Thompson have acknowledged Len Deighton's influence on their work. Chances are good Len Deighton will always be acknowledged as one of the greatest spy novelists of all time

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2026

I don't have an ounce of Irish blood in me nor am I Nigerian, Montserratian, an engineer, or a paralegal, so I don't celebrate St. Patrick's Day. I know plenty of people who do celebrate St. Patrick's Day, so here are some of vintage pinups you can celebrate with.

First up is the lovely Barbara Bates, who is engaging in some St. Patrick's Day crafts.

And here is Martha Vickers with what I assume is a St. Patrick's tree.

Here is the lovely and decidedly non-Irish Olga San Juan watering a shamrock. 

And here is the lovely and decidedly Irish Dorothy Malone decked out for the holiday. 

And here is June Haver perched on a giant hat!

and last, but not least, here's Ann Miller dressed up for the holiday.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Judy Pace Passes On

Judy Pace, who appeared on the shows Peyton Place and The Young Lawyers, died on March 11, 2026, at the age of 83. 

Judy Pace was born on June 15, 1942, in Los Angeles. Her father was an airplane mechanic and her mother owned Kitty's Place, which may have been the largest Black-owned ladies apparel shop west of Mississippi at the time. She went to Dorsey High School and then Los Angeles City College. 

She made her movie debut in a small role in the William Castle movie 13 Frightened Girls in 1963. In the Sixties, she appeared in the movies The Oscar (1966), The Fortune Cookie (1966), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), Three in the Attic (1968), Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970), and Up in the Cellar (1970). She guest starred in the shows Bewitched, Batman, I Spy, Run for Your Life, Days of Our Lives, I Dream of Jeannie, The Flying Nun, Tarzan, The Mod Squad, My Friend Tony, The New People, and Insight. She had a regular role on the nighttime soap opera Peyton Place and starred on the short-lived show The Young Lawyers. 

In the Seventies, Judy Pace appeared in the TV movie Brian's Song. She guest starred on the shows Shaft, Medical Center, Kung Fu, Sanford and Son, That's My Mama, Ironside, Caribe, Good Times, What's Happening!!, and Beyond Westworld. She appeared in the movies Frogs (1972), Cool Breeze (1972), and The Slams (1973).

From the Eighties to the Naughts, she guest starred on the shows The New Odd Couple and Players at the Poker Palace. She had a recurring role on the web series Beauty and the Baller.

She co-founded the Kwanza Foundation in 1971 with Nichelle Nichols. The group's purpose was to support Black women working in the movie. 

Screenwriter Alan Trustman Passes On

Screenwriter and lawyer Alan Trustman, who wrote the screenplays for The Thomas Crown Affair (1968_ and Bullitt (1968), died on February 5, 2026, at the age of 95.

Alan Trustman was born on December 16, 1930, in Brookline, Massachusetts. He attended the Boston Latin School and The Phillips Exeter Academy. He was 15 years old when he got a job at the First National Bank of Boston. He attended Harvard University, graduating in 1952, and the Harvard Law School, graduating in 1955. His father, Benjamin A. Trustman, was a partner at the Boston law firm Nutter McClennen & Fish, and Alan Trustman went to work there. 

Familiar with the First National Bank of Boston from having worked there Alan Trustman had thought of how one would go about robbing that bank. The idea resulted in the screenplay for The Thomas Crown Affair (1968). He had written the screenplay with Sean Connery in mind for the lead, but producer Walter Mirsch and director Noman Jewison cast Steve McQueen in the role instead. This resulted in Alan Trustman rewriting the screenplay to fit Steven McQueen more. The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) would lead to Alan Trustman co-writing another Steve McQueen vehicle, Bullitt (1968). He also wrote They Call Me Mr. Tibbs (1970), Lacy Ice (1973), and Hit! (1973). He worked on the scripts for Ace Up My Sleeve (1975) and The Next Man (1976). His last work as a writer as an episode of Fallen Angels in 1995.

His novel Father's Day was published  in 1992. 

Godspeed Tom Noonan

Tom Noonan, who appeared in such movies as Manhunter (1986) and Heat (1995), died on February 14, 2026 at the age of 74,

Tom Noonan was born on April 12, 1951 in Greenwich, Connecticut. His mother was a mathematics teacher and his father a jazz musician. His older brother was John Ford Noonan, an actor, playwright, and screenwriter. Tom Noonan began his career in theatre, including off-Broadway. He appeared in small parts in the films Willie and Phil (1980), Gloria (1980), and Heaven's Gate (1980). He made his television debut in the TV movie Rage! in 1980.

In the Eighties, Tom Noonan appeared in the movies Wolfen (1981), Eddie Macon's Run (1983), Easy Money (1983), Best Defense (1984), The Man with One Red Shoe (1985), FX (1985), Manhunter (1986), The Monster Squad (1987), Collision Course (1989), Mystery Train (1989), and RoboCop 2 (1980). He guest starred on the shows Tales From the Darkside and The Equalizer.

In the Nineties, he appeared in the movies Last Action Hero (1993), What Happened Was... (1995), The Wife (1995), Heat (1995), Phoenix (1998), The Astronaut's Wife (1999), Wang Dang (1999), and The Photographer (2000). He guest starred on the TV shows Monsters, Early Edition, The X-Files, and The Beat. He appeared in the mini-series Heaven & Hell: North & South, Book III.

In the Naughts, he guest starred on the shows CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, The Jury, Johnny Zero, Kidnapped, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Bright Falls, and Louie. He appeared in the movies The Pledge (2001), Knockaround Guys (2001), Eight Legged Freaks (2002), The Egoists (2003), Madness and Genius (2003), Hair High (2004), The Roost (2005), Seraphim Falls (2006), Snow Angels (2007), Synecdoche, New York (2008), The Alphabet Killer (2008), and Follow the Prophet (2009).

In the Teens, he appeared in the movies Late Phases (2014), The Shape of Something Squashed (2014), and Wonderstruck (2017). He was a voice in the Anomalisa (2015). On television he played Reverend Nathan Cole on Hell on Wheel, Detective Victor Huntley on Damages, and the Pallid Man on 12 Monkeys. He guest starred on the shows The Cape, Bar Karma, The Blacklist, The Leftovers, Quarry, Roadside Picnic, and Animals. He appeared in the mini-series Horace and Pete and Dimension 404.

He also wrote plays, two of which were adapted into movies, What Happened Was… (1994) and The Wife (1995).

Throughout his career, Tom Noonan played a wide variety of roles. Chances are good that many will remember him as the troubled Reverend Nathaniel Cole on Hell on Wheels. He will probably also be remembered as serial child killer John Lee Roche in the X-Files episode "Paper Hearts." Of course,he did a number of movies as well as television. He played the villain Cain, leader of the Nuke drug cartel, in RoboCop 2. In Manhunter, he played serial killer Francis Dollarhyde.While he primarily played villains, Tom Noonan was an enormous talent who could bring any role to life convincingly.

The Late Great Country Joe McDonald

Country Joe McDonald, best known for his Vietnam War protest song “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag," died on Sunday, March 7, at the age of 84 rom complications of Parkinson’s disease.

Country Joe McDonald was born on January 1, 1942, in Washington, DC. When they were young, his parents were both members of the Communist Party and they actually named Country Joe McDonald for Josef Stalin. They later renounced Communism. Country Joe McDonald grew up in in El Monte, California. He was a trombonist in his high school band and was good enough that he actually led the band. He taught himself blues, country, folk, and rock songs on the guitar, and started writing songs when he was still a teen. He was 17 years old when he enlisted in the United States Navy.

Following his service in the Navy, Country Joe McDonald attended Los Angeles State College for a year before moving to Berkeley to pursue a career as a folk musician. It as in 1965 that he and singer/guitarist Barry "the Fish" Melton formed Country Joe and the Fish. Bruce Barthol on bass, David Bennett Cohen on organ, and Gary “Chicken” Hirsh on drums later joined the group. The name came from two sources. Joe McDonald was called "Country Joe" because magazine publisher Eugene “ED” Denson had heard that Josef Stalin was called "Country Joe"during the Second World War. The "fish," which Barry Melton adopted as his own, also came from Eugene Denson, who drew upon a quote from Mao Zedong that revolutionaries are “the fish who swim in the sea of the people.” 

Like other folk groups of the era, Country Joe McDonald and the Fish evolved from an acoustic folk sound to an electric folk rock sound. They moved from Berkeley to San Francisco where they met with success. They self-released their first EP, Talking Issue No. 1: Songs of Opposition in 1965. It was followed by another, self-titled EP in 1966. It was in December 1966 that Country Joe and the Fish signed with Vanguard Records. Their first album,, Electric Music for the Mind and Body, was released in February 1967. It featured their debut single, "Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine." The album performed relatively well, reaching no. 39 on the Billboard album chart.

While Country Joe and the Fish's singles did not do particularly well, their albums did. I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die (1967) went to no. 67 on the Billboard album chart. Together (1968) went to no. 23. Here We Go Again (1969) peaked at no. 48. Their album CJ Fish (1970) faltered at only no. 111 on the chart. Through it all Country Joe and the Fish found themselves banned by the television networks due to the notorious "Fish Cheer (which was changed to spell another four letter word starting with "F" besides "fish")." They also saw a few changes in their lineup, Of course, it was also during this period that Country Joe and the Fish appeared at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, at which they were scheduled at the last minute. Their performance was preserved in the documentary Woodstock (1970), guaranteeing their immortality.

Country Joe and the Fish disbanded in 1970. The 1967 lineup of the group reunited and recorded the 1977 album Reunion. Afterwards the group would reunited from time to time, calling themselves "the Country Joe Band" when Barry "the Fish" Melton was not part of the lineup.

Country Joe McDonald had begun his solo career before Country Joe and the Fish had disbanded in 1970. His first solo album, Thinking of Woody Guthrie, was released in 1969. As a solo artist, he released around twenty studio albums from 1969 to 2017. He also composed songs for the movies Quiet Days in Clichy (1970) and Qué Hacer (1972). It was in the 1980s that he and Bill Belmonst re-launched Rag Baby Records, the label under which Country Joe and the Fish released their original EPs. In addition to Country Joe's solo work, they also released albums by such artists as David Bennett Cohen, Joady Guthrie, Rocky Sullivan, and others.

Country Joe McDonald also appeared as an actor in the movies ¡Qué hacer! (1970), Gas-s-s-s! -Or- It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It (1970), and Zachariah (1971). He and the other members of Country Joe and the Fish appeared in More American Graffiti (1979). He appeared in the TV series Tales of the City. 

Country Joe McDnoald was committed to veterans of the Vietnam War, as well as the Peace Movement. He helped organize the building of the Vietnam War Memorial in Berkeley and  he helped in establish the memorial San Francisco as well. He played benefits for both Sword to Plowshares and Vietnam Veterans Against the War. 

Country Joe McDonald was an incredible talent and extremely versatile as a songwriter. He could write everything from protest songs with deadpan humour such as his most famous work, "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag" to ballads such as "Janis" to the blues-infused "Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine." While he would always be linked to the late Sixties and the Vietnam War, Country Joe McDonald made lasting contributions to folk and rock music. 

"I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag", by Country Joe McDonald and The Fish

Today I still don't feel up to snuff due to the shift to daylight saving time. This year it seems to have hit me harder than usual. Regardless, while I don't feel up to writing a full-fledged post, I wanted to pay tribute to the great Country Joe McDonald, who died on March 7, 2026. Here then is his most famous song, "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag," likely due to its performance at Woodstock, which was immortalized in the documentary Woodstock (1970). Sadly, it seems more relevant now than it has been in years.